Roadside Interrogation: There Is A Time To Submit And There Is A Time To Spit; And The Time To Submit Is Over

The excuse that there has been some kind of “mistake” is no longer available. One time is an anomaly, but twice is a pattern. If you can’t see this is a program designed to acclimate the American people to a noose around their necks, then you deserve the chokehold that is coming. This is how the police state is conceived, or is born, or metastasizes—depending on what stage you think we are in.

A private firm with a federal contract – and backed up by city police – forced motorists off Laurel Street and into a private parking lot Friday to question them about their driving habits and ask for a swab of their mouth.

“I feel this incident is a gross abuse of power on many levels,” Reading resident Ricardo Nieves, one of those stopped, told City Council Monday.

He said federal and local tax dollars were being used to stop innocent people without probable cause, and allow a private company to hire uniformed police to force citizens to listen to their questions.

He said he wasn’t told what the swab was for, but added, “Clearly it was for DNA.”

The checkpoint was among several being carried out in Pennsylvania by the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, hired by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

Unlike the previous occurrence in Fort Worth, Texas, where the police chief apologized for allowing his officers to be used for intimidation purposes, Reading Police Chief William M. Heim is one-hundred percent an apologist for this federal occupation move. He defended the swabs as a way for testing for prescription medications.

The checkpoint was supposed to be voluntary, but Nieves said he had to refuse several times over a five-minute period before the woman taking the survey let him go.

What irked Nieves was the presence of city police. He said they were there – including a police car with flashing lights – to intimidate motorists, and gave the checkpoint an air of authority it would not otherwise have had.

Heim said city police were hired for site security only, since the survey takers were paying money for answers and for the swabs.

But he said city police did not pull motorists over, nor ask any questions, and in fact were asked to stay away from the cars.

Asked about Nieves’ statement that the private firm wanted police there for intimidation, Heim responded: “People are not pressured by police presence to do something they don’t want to.

“In the grand scheme of things, I think it’s a pretty innocuous and minor issue.”

Assuming that there is no chance of jailing Heim, in the grand scheme of things he needs to be fired.

Some ACLU lawyers were questioned and they confirmed that the police are only allowed to stop motorists for a sobriety checkpoint or to investigate a crime. But unless the ACLU or someone actually takes the police and Federal contractors to court, this is simply outdated information. The Feds have now made stop and interrogate an allowable practice. If they can do it and get away with it then it is the new reality. Nothing is more useless that claiming an act is illegal and yet tolerating it.

In my opinion, the next time someone says he needs a sample of your saliva, you should tell him to wipe it off his own face.